Scotland 2024 – Day 5

Posted on July 10, 2024 by jmatie22

Last day in Scotland! Started off a bit late because of the night before. But first thing on the agenda was checking out a Michelin star restaurant called Noto. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/09/noto/

We then went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It’s the main Palace used by Mary Queen of Scots, and had a lot of history. Could definitely relate it to the TV show Reign (I would say have the focus of the self guided audio tour was in her, and the others on Royalty I was unsure of). It also contained one of the original royal Abbeys, but it later had its roof collapsed due to poor maintenance.

After, walked the full Royal Mile. First tried going to St Giles Cathedral, but we were 5 minutes too late. Then ended up at the esplanade of Edinburgh castle. They had a concert going on (some group named JIS). You needed tix to enter it.

From there checked out the Grassmarket area, where in the old days they used it for cattle selling, but also for beheading (those that martyred for Protestants).

After, headed for dinner at Ondine. The review can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/10/ondine/

For our last stop, we got cocktails at the oldest cocktail bar in Edinburgh called Dragonfly. Here is the review:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/10/dragonfly/

FYI it was fairly rainy this day, so glad I bought an umbrella. Also my Arteryx jacket held up to keep me warm (but wished it was water proof. Also need to get waterproof shoes).

And that’s about it for Scotland! Next day we burred to EDI (but nothing of special note).

For next time in Edinburgh, definitely need to book tickets in advance for the Edinburgh Castle tour. Also want to check out the other Michelin star restaurant, Kitchin.

Scotland 2024 – Day 4

Posted on July 8, 2024 by jmatie22

Started the day by having breakfast at our hotel (same as yesterday, but got no black pudding and got the scrambled eggs).

After, drove for the first time in the UK (on the left side of the road)! Had trouble following the gps because I had to look on my right side for the map (hence missed our turn and had to drive through some outskirts roads.. haha thought it would be a simple drive but it was more challenging), but we eventually got to our destination, which was GlenAllechie distillery.

At the distillery, didn’t go too much for the tour, but to go sit at the bar and do a flight to see which of their single malt Speyside whiskies I liked best. I tried a 10, 12, 16, and 18 year. The 10 was cask strength, while the others were not. The 10 and 12 are made from 5 different barrels (including sherry). The 15 and 18 were made from only 2 barrels (a subset of the 10 and 12). Mentioning this since the bar tender said I should try it in the 10, 12, 15, 18 order because of the above.

From the tasting, I originally said I liked the 18 because it is smoothest, while the 12 was my next one (just the right amount of sweetness and could drink it without adding water). 15 would be my next one then 10.

However doing a blind taste test, here are my results (did terrible lol):

10, 12, 15, 18 (real order)

15, 10, 18, 12

All I can conclude from the above is that because I mistaken 12 for 18 (and I like the 12), 18 is the best one.

One last drink I did try is their single cask 17 year, since you can only get it at their distillery, and it’s cask strength. Ended up getting it at the gift shop before we left.

Also, their branding is changing to a more pascal type colors (so the labels are now different. The bar tended compared it to the GlenMorangie marketing). Found this out to see which ones I could get at K&L, which is already all of them.

Before leaving we did ask if Dunnottar or Doune castle was better. He mentioned the former was more epic (although Doune is where Winterfell castle is).

Driving to Dunnottar, of course the view was epic of the highlands, but the cliffside view of the castle was even better.

Not too many notes about Dunnottar except that I liked it better than Uqhuart castle. Also they did hold prisoners there that were non Protestants in the 1600s because of King Charles II. Also, they did have a pretty cool scavenger hunt game you could do while exploring which I thought made it more fun.

After, made our way to Edinburgh (which we drove by two major cities, Dundee and Perth… but nothing really to write about). One thing about the end of the drive is when we tried to find a gas station before returning the car, it did not exist (so we took an extra 40 minutes in total trying to find another one. Apparently there are not a lot of gas stations in Edinburgh).

The hotel we checked into is called Le Monde. It’s in the new part of town, and fairly close to the old town. And the hotel has themes. Our theme was Dublin.

We started our Edinburgh adventure by going for dinner at Ka Pao. It’s in a giant mall called St. James Quarter. Definitely wouldn’t mind shopping around there. And here is the review for Ka Pao:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/09/ka-pao/

We then walked around old town, and finding several sites that inspired Harry Potter sites. The first one is Victoria street, which Diagon Alley was based from. Second was Tom Riddle’s grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard (it was a bit hard to find since the google pin was a bit in accurate). 3rd site was considered “the birthplace of Harry Potter” called The Elephant Room.

After we walked a bit on the Royal Mile, just checking the sites out. Then went to one pub, and these two places (The Alchemist, and Never Really Happened):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/09/the-alchemist-edinburgh-george-st/

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/09/nrh-never-really-here/

Lastly we decided to go to an arcade bar called N064, and played a few thing… guitar hero, Mario kart, basketball, and Time Crisis shooting game).

Note: in Scotland, alcohol sales stop at 10pm, for pubs at 12am, and for clubs and bars at 2am (which is partly why we decided to go to N064, because it is considered a bar).

Scotland 2024 – Day 3

Posted on July 7, 2024 by jmatie22

Started off the day eating a free breakfast at our hotel (Aberlour hotel), which seems like a traditional Scottish breakfast (including black pudding, which is basically blood sausage paddy).

After, we headed 20 minutes to Glenlivet estate / Distillery. A few things I learned:

-it has a really long drive way up a hill so that the taxman (from the olden days) wouldn’t find their whisky they were trying to sell

-it’s 200 years since they got their license to sell whisky

-it’s fruity flavors are mainly from the copper stills (not the well water)

-in the stills it is 4 hours in the washbacks and 5 hours in the copper ones (where it then is at the 62% alcohol level they want it at)

-they use both american casks and European casks. European casks are supposed to be sweeter notes while the american smoother notes

-the 12 and 16 single malt years are double casks, where they are from two different barrels (american and the. European). The 14 is only from american (but could still be double cask

-single malt refers to the fact the whisky comes from one distillery

-single cask means the bottles whisky it has only been from one barrel. Double cask means the bottle has whisky from two different barrels. A Finish means it was transferred from cask to another (say from and American one to a European one)

-Glenlivet was Seagram before

After Glenlivet, we headed west towards Inverness to Clansman Hotel to catch our boat ride around Loch Ness (by jacobite boats). The boat ride was 2 hours in total and included a stop to Urquhart castle (the highlands largest castle). Some details about it:

-built in the 500s, and was around until the 1500s

-eventually people broke through it (or stormed it) and also pillages things from it like it’s rooftops and art

In terms of the Loch Ness monster, apparently some doctor in the early 1900s took a picture of Nessi, but they discover in the 1990s it was a fake picture (he used a combination of picture taking trickery). However people do claim still that they have seen it for real.

After we headed to a trail close by called the South Loch Ness trail. Only hiked 2 km of it because it was too muddy from the rain early (Scotland weather has a bit of on and off showers). The hike did have a good view of the highlands.

After, we headed to Inverness to walk around along the Ness Walk. Inverness on Sundays have most of their shops closed, but most of their eateries are open (and the really good ones are full). It took us our 3rd choice restaurant selection (but they seated us an hour later than we wanted). We did stop McDonalds and Tesco (a grocery store). Details can be found here for the restaurant we ate at, Encore Une Fois:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/07/encore-une-fois/

We then headed back to our hotel in Aberlour.